Hi everyone,
Some of you might remember that I’ve posted about Norlay here before, so I wanted to share an update on how the project has been coming along.
Norlay is an independent tech brand I started, and I’ve been working on building tools that make technology more useful and accessible.
The first app, Norlay, is now available for macOS. It’s an AI-powered assistant that can help with finding files, running commands, automating tasks, researching the web, and installing or configuring software. I’m excited to keep improving it and see how people find it useful in their everyday work.
I’m also developing Norlay Code, an AI coding assistant for macOS and Windows. It’s coming soon, and I’m looking forward to sharing more about it as it gets closer to release.
You can learn more about the project and try the available app at https://norlay.fit.
Since I’ve shared Norlay here before, I thought it would be nice to keep everyone updated as things develop. I also share news about new features, upcoming apps, and releases on the Norlay Facebook page and X profile.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1RBRa9UbQn/?mibextid=wwXIfr
I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who tries the app. Feedback, suggestions, and ideas about what could be improved are always welcome. I’m building Norlay step by step, and hearing about other people’s experiences helps me understand what matters most to users.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks to everyone who has followed the project since I first posted about it.
Comments
Why Norlay Code?
Interesting project. I'll be up front in that I haven't used it, since I have no need to. However I do wonder why Norlay Code? The landscape has too many AI coding clients already; COdex, Claude Code and ANti Gravity from the major players, all of which have desktop and CLI apps. Qwen Code, MuseCode and plenty of other CLI coding agents from Meta and ALi. Then there's OpenCode, Cursor, the Claude Code OpenRouter extension, Cline, VS code extensions for all of the above, and countless other coding agents. Most of these are based either on VS Code or on an Electron or even Tauri front-end, so they're web views and for the most part completely accessible. Why spend time developping another coding agent, without the resources of a mainstream userbase behind you?
This is genuine curiosity. Without development, we don't progress, and you might have a genuinely new or innovative idea that the existing solutions don't solve. But I can't see the need to spend the time, and the cost of compute, on an accessible coding agent built for the sake of being an accessible coding agent, where the existing solutions already work, especially if that agent is being built solely by AI. While AI is used to build and ship a lot of the code in modern agents, there are also hands-on developers working behind the scenes. Without them these tools wouldn't be nearly as effective.
Re: Why Norlay Code?
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I genuinely appreciate the honest feedback, and I understand where you’re coming from.
The reason I started Norlay Code is personal. As a blind developer, I found that accessibility in existing coding agents wasn’t always as straightforward as it should be. With OpenCode, for example, I found myself needing additional tools to make the experience work better with a screen reader. I wanted to see if I could build something where accessibility wasn’t an afterthought or something users had to fix themselves.
Norlay Code is built on the OpenCode foundation, so I’m not claiming to have reinvented AI coding or built a completely new underlying engine. My goal is to improve the experience, particularly for people using screen readers, while keeping the flexibility of an AI coding agent.
You’re absolutely right that there are already plenty of coding agents, and I don’t expect everyone to switch from the tools they already like. But when you’re a blind developer, something that seems like a small accessibility issue to someone else can become a genuine barrier to working independently. That’s the problem I’m trying to address.
Regarding AI-assisted development, I use AI as a tool to help build the project, but I still make decisions about its direction, test features, and work on the issues that matter to me as a user. I also know there’s a lot more to building a reliable product than simply generating code, and I’m continuing to learn as I develop it.
I don’t know whether Norlay Code will become widely used, but I believe making development tools more accessible is a worthwhile goal in itself. If it helps even a small number of people code more independently, that would mean a lot to me.
Thanks again for asking the question respectfully. I appreciate the opportunity to explain the reasoning behind the project.